The percentage is the same as the retail industry and about average at .09%.   Organic page ranking and frequency of visitors to your site are key factors when determining a successful online marketing campaign.  If you rely on online advertising solely for your Internet exposure, especially in major metropolitan areas, the time has come to shift your focus while you still can.   Yellow page advertising, Dex Knows, Super Pages, and PPC, programs take a huge bite of monthly marketing budgets.  With the new year, now is the time to consider how to wisely allocate your 2011 Internet marketing budget to build your business for the future based on consumer habits to build your practice.

Digital Advertising: What to Remember and Forget About the Click

• Clicks on display ads are a misleading metric, and one should only use clicks for direct response ad campaigns (or search).
• Clicks do not reveal information on brand building. Clicks don’t measure all of a campaign’s sales impact nor the cumulative (latent) impact of ads.
• Click-through rates continue to decrease as more content is created and more advertising inventory is available.
• The majority of clicks come from a small percentage of the total population. One of our company studies found that heavy and moderate clickers only represent a combined 8 percent of the U.S. Internet population, yet they account for about 85 percent of all click-throughs.
• Clicks are not the right metric to use for measuring online branding. Better metrics such as ‘reach and frequency’ help establish online media on the same playing field as traditional media to provide continuity in planning.
• Although it might be coined ‘the most measurable medium’, brands need to understand what metrics (and there are many!) are important in measuring their digital success.

If all of this is overwhelming and too confusing, feel free to contact me at 877-295-5611 or email marykay@orthopreneur.comfor a complimentary online consultation to help you determine what metrics to use in your Internet marketing plan for best results in 2011.

Good News… I suggest you Read this article "Many Cutbacks But Not for Straight Teeth" to start your year off on a positive note.  Even though the article was published months ago, it is still relevant in 2010.

The good news is parents with disposable income, even during tough economic times, feel straightening their kids teeth is still a high priority when it comes to the personal development of  their kids and a good return on investment.  A great smile sends a message to people both socially and in the business environment today.

In a society that places extraordinary value on appearance, orthodontics is increasingly seen as a necessity, not a luxury, and even though the number of patients undergoing orthodontic treatment declined since the start of the recession, many families are going to great lengths to keep tooth-straightening in their budgets.

"The latest figures from the American Association of Orthodontists, compiled before the recession began, counted about 4 million patients younger than 18 in North America in treatment in 2006, up from 2.6 million in 1989. Experts say the number has dropped recently."  I recently heard the population is down as much as 10%  in the past few years which is a double whammy coupled with the recession.

The article also quotes Paul Zuelke and Roger Levin on their take of the current economic environment facing orthodontic practices today and the stats they are seeing around the country with their clients.

All is not bleak.  Hunker down and pay attention to your marketing strategies, customer service, and latest Internet marketing trends to get your marketing message across to prospective new patients.  Now is not the time to cut back on your marketing efforts at the beginning of a new year, but to grease the wheels on an effective marketing program to grab your piece of the shrinking orthodontic pie in 2010.

Like all bad weather, the storm will eventually pass.  When the clouds clear, where will your practice be standing?  High and dry ready to seize the day with all your marketing strategies in place or muddling your way along in low standing water trying to figure out a way to dry off.  If you are still trying to figure it all out or doing nothing, let me help you bring it into perspective.

What do you see happening in your area?  Is the worst over or you do you see the sun starting to come out again. Leave a comment below to share with others or just offer an opinion.

An excellent orthodontic marketing and business article is available on OrthodonticProductsOnline.com. For those of you who are not reading this publication on a regular basis, you should be.  I have been reading it for years and always found it to be a wealth of information.  The publication is FREE… all you have to due is sign up.  They will mail a copy to the office and/or you can access the articles and archives online.

The article I suggest you read was written by Brett Blake, president and CEO of Acceptx Financial Solutions Inc.  This article is a "Must Read" not only for orthodontists, but financial coordinators and TC's as well.

If you are already implementing the smart business and marketing practices Brett mentions… I applaud you.  The article linked below will reinforce your savvy business acumen.  If you aren't, it's time to put all your ducks in a row to move forward in 2009-2010 as we start to close the first decade and keep them in place, even when times are tough. 

There is one comment I would like to add, however, after reading this article.  Not only has financial behavioral changes occurred in today's Gen X and Gen Y generations, so has their buying habits and how you engage them. 

Embracing new technologies today includes marketing on the Internet.  Many mortgage buyers who are in trouble now paying their mortgages were influenced and enticed by information and research easily found on the Internet.  In the long run, the banking industry and our economy has suffered serious injury due to its bad practices and greed… 

However, think of this from another angle…  The banking industry jumped on social networking, word of mouth, and online marketing tactics to promote their great rates to entice new customers and succeeded.  The Internet was a very successful marketing tool.  Taking advantage of the Internet as a marketing tool not only increases your ability to inform consumers who your are and what you are all about… it is less expensive and allows you to reach a much larger demographic.  Your Internet marketing program is the umbrella under which prospective new patients view your practice and your marketing message.  Are you taking advantage of it? And if so, can your patients find you?  Include Internet marketing when putting all your ducks in a row. 

Thanks Brett for your insight and here's to your business success in 2009!  Read the article here…

Think of the ONE orthodontic Marketing programs you wanted to start or finish in the past year… but your perfectionism has crippled and even paralyzed your progress.

I myself am guilty of the this.  My new mantra for 2009 is "Speed To Market" with my new products for Internet marketing.  Whenever I find myself paralyzed in a moment trying to make everything perfect, I am going to remind myself "sloppy success is better than perfect mediocrity."

Why is this so?  In the current economic crisis, you can't wait to figure out how to attract new patients if you want to survive, let alone build your practice in 2009.  Internet marketing is still virgin territory and no one has all the answers.  Visionary practices who move or "fail" forward, even if the don't totally understand the current tech savvy market, SEO, and how Internet marketing, video, and social networking will promote their business, will be the first to corner the new patient market looking for treatment options on the Internet.  There are still families with disposable income requiring orthodontic and dental treatment.  How are you going to drive them to your practice rather than the competition?   

No one explains the key to being productive and moving forward better than one of my business coaches Alex Mandossian.  He was always driving this point home during my coaching classes.  Watch and listen yourself,  so you too can become more productive faster, smarter, and with less effort.   December 17th post AlexMandossian.com.   

After you watch his video, please post your comment.

Acceptx is an online automated financial solution for medical and dental practices across the US and… a TC's or financial co-ordinator's dream come true.  I had the opportunity to sit through a private demonstration of the online system at the AAO in Denver in May.  Where was this service when I was a TC for over 20 years? 

During the NP process, I always felt the most cumbersome and uncomfortable moment was presentation of finances.  There was no quick and easy way to present payment options to perspective patients without first banging away on a calculator to determine appropriate financial arrangements.  Insurance coverage complicated the issue along with determining the correct schedule based on credit rating and family budget. I would often watch out of the corner of my eye, many a parent trying to read my handwriting upside down… as they anxiously awaited the verdict while I completed the process. 

Acceptx and its upcoming parternship with Paul Zuelke has simplified the process by providing doctors the ability to make decisions about the fees, financial terms, collection practices and banking once… then automating the process so TC's can quickly and efficiently present payment options or recalculate again to meet the personal needs of the patient.

From a practice management perspective, the program increases practice cash flow and profitability.  Bottom line…Acceptx enables doctors, treatment coordinators, and financial coordinators the ability to quickly present fee options that are attractive to your patients, substantially reducing your default rate and increasing new starts.

I highly recommend this inexpensive service provided by Acceptx for marketing savvy practices looking to streamline the new patient process and make an ordinary new patient experience EXTRAordinary… in the eyes of a tech savvy patient or parent.

1. Interpersonal communications – How staff members relate to one another and your patients… can make or break your practice.
2. Teamwork and commitment – Your group "Code of Honor" defines how team members interact, how they treat one another, responsibility to the team, and how to handle a member who isn't fully supporting the team.
3. Efficiencies and precision – Eliminating interpersonal conflict, petty personal issues, and the need for the 'management police' is a powerful empowering process for everyone, both doctor and staff members.

The reason I am blogging about this today is because I have been following Tim's raves and rantings since the NESO meeting on his blog hufactor.com .  After managing a practice for over 30 years, I understand the day to day workings and pitfalls encountered when building a cohesive team and trying to improve performance for the betterment of everyone. It was the most challenging aspect of my career.

Currently, Tim is offering Free video training on areas of his program and a copy of the "Code of Honor" that I recommend you sign up for download and read.  Whether you are a nuclear power plant, and insurance agency, or and orthodontic practice "The Precepts of Practicing Perfection" are the same:

1. Things are the way they are because they got that way
2. 84 – 94 percent of all human error can be directly attributed to process, programmatic, or organizational issues
3. People come to work wanting to do a good job
4. The people who do the work are the ones who have the answers.

Discovering how to build your practice on these precepts as your foundation, I feel, would be an amazing experience.  Charles Post DMD, of Keene, NH contracted the services of The Practicing Perfection Institute to improve the team environment and performance of his orthodontic practice in 2006.   He wanted to try something new to improve efficiency, build the practice and improve job satisfaction for the entire team.  He was able to accomplish this with Tim's program. Dr. Post comments, "Practicing Perfection has been a transformation that has refocused us all on patient priority while giving everyone valuable methods and systems to reduce errors in all areas." 

Since delivery of treatment and customer service are the two most important factors to consider in the developement of your marketing plan, consider taking advantage of this unique online opportunity that is being offered now from HU 2.0 , along with his new online program that is soon to be released. 

I read a great article today, written by Linda Talley: The Leadership Coach.  It is short, to the point and I would like to share it with you. 

Keep in mind, when reading this post, how members of your orthodontic team, including yourself, would measure up….  Every member of the team, at some point in time, finds themselves in a position to lead or manage.  I found it very enlightening.

1. When you are in a meeting, and someone mentions the word “Change,”  you ask how much it will cost.
2. When a salesperson brings in a new product idea, you ask what the downside will be.
3. When a diversity issue arises within the practice, you ask how it will affect the bottom line.
4. When an idea comes along to completely reinvent the customer service department, you ask what the competition is doing in this area.
5. Staff is required to obtain approval on everything!
6. You’re more interested in reporting short term results.
7. You get nervous with staff members who want to take the company “out on a limb.”
8. You feel there is no difference between the parenting you do at home and at the office.
9. You are depressed at the end of the day if you feel like anything or anyone got out of control, didn’t show up, or didn’t do their portion.
10. You liked the way the company was running 10 years ago rather than how it is today.

Orthodontic practices whose marketing and management strategies are run by managers, will always remain "Ordinary."  Orthodontic practices  whose strategies are implemented by leaders, can't help but become "ExtraOrdinary."

How does your practice measure up?

How much time does it really take to backup all your computer files?

Some options to look for when considering an online service are:

You can never be too carefull….

With the recent fires in California destroying many homes and businesses, I think this would be a good time to review recommended computer backup procedures for your orthodontic practice. Mother Nature can be very cruel and you never know when she may strike next.